Bus sideswipes accident scene killing firefighter

A Sesser firefighter was killed early Friday morning during cleanup operations following a tractor-trailer blaze on Interstate 57 north of Benton.

Sesser firefighters were called to extinguish the blaze around 3 a.m. near mile marker 75, two miles south of the Whittington-Sesser exit on I-57.

After the blaze had been extinguished, approximately an hour after the original fire call, firefighters were in the process of rolling hose when a northbound Greyhound bus sideswiped a fire department vehicle, slid down the side of the vehicle, struck and fatally injured firefighter Jimmy Miller.

Miller, 44, had been a Sesser volunteer firefighter for 22 years, according to Sesser Fire Chief Cletus McBride.

"We thought we had everything covered," McBride said. "We had orange cones set up and the three trucks at the scene had their red lights flashing. Still ..."

McBride said at the time of the incident, Miller was standing at the rear of the fire truck rolling hose and replacing it on the truck.

"Jimmy was a fine man, and he will be missed," McBride said.

In addition to serving on the fire department, Miller and his family were active in the First Baptist Church in Sesser. Miller leaves his wife, Sherri, and two daughters.

An Illinois State Police fatal accident team was on the scene of the fatality. The northbound lanes of I-57 were closed for more than four hours, and traffic was rerouted along Illinois Route 37, creating a number of traffic jams in and around Benton.

State police had not released the name of the bus driver nor the driver of the semi that burned as of press time.